Seam construction for boot and method of making same



March 17, 1970 l. DRAZEN 3,500,560

SEAM CONSTRUCTION FOR BOOT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Filed June 26, 1968 v 4/ h F/G.2

INVENTOR. IRVING DRAZEN 11 A,WMM MQ %K *M,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,500,560 SEAM CONSTRUCTION FOR BOOT AND METHOD OF MAKING SAME Irving Drazen, Scranton, Pa., assignor to Golo Footwear gorporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New ork Filed June 26, 1968, Ser. No. 740,146 Int. Cl. A43b 23/00 U.S. CI. 36-57 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A seam construction especially suitable for a boot in which the material at the seam is stitched together with one edge of the material closer to the stitching than the other edge and in which the longer edge overlies the shorter edge in order to form a smooth seam which is water resistant. The invention includes the method of fabricating the seam.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to an improved construction for a boot and to the method therefor. Boots fabricated of backed or unbacked vinyl material have become high fashion womens items. Because the boots generally rise high on the leg of the wearer, women have a tendency to consider the boots suitable for inclement weather. While the vinyl material is generally impervious to water, it has been found that water enters the boots through the various joints and seams.

High fashion vinyl boots will generally have at least a long seam running along the back of the leg and a seam along the front of the leg is also used, depending upon the design of the particular boot. it is important that all seams be as flat as possible since the thin, pliable vinyl material tends to show ridges beneath the material. Equally important, it is necessary that the seams be smooth so as not to snag or run the stockings over which the boots are often worn.

In prior constructions, satisfactory seams as to smooth ness and bulkiness have been fabricated by stitching the two pieces of the material at the seam with the outer sides back-to-back and then folding back and adhering to itself each edge. This results in a butt seam which substantially lacks water resistance. Such seam has often been found to be lumpy and thus it is often necessary to cover the seam with tape to render the boot comfortable when it is being worn.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Generally speaking, in accordance with the invention, an improved seam for a vinyl type boot is created by having one edge of material longer than the other at the stitched joint so that the longer edge may be adhered to the main portion of the other piece over the shorter edge folded on itself in order to eliminate the butt edge and provide a more waterproof seam and in order to provide an edge which is smooth on the interior surface so that additional tape is not required. The improved seam is developed by following the steps to be hereafter described.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved seam construction for a boot.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method for fabricating a boot with a seam.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved seam in a boot which is substantially water resistant.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

Theinvention accordingly comprises the features of construction,- combination of elements and arrangement of parts and the several steps and the relation of one or more of such steps with respect to each of the others thereof, all as exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference is had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a typical boot constructed in accordance with the teachings of the instant invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view, at a greatly enlarged scale, of a partially fabricated seam; and

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view, at a greatly enlarged scale, taken along line 33 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In FIG. 1 there is depicted a boot 11 which is intended to be a high fashion boot of any desired design fabricated of any suitable material such a vinyl, leather or the like. The Wearers leg is indicated in phantom at 12. The boot is provided with at least one seam 13 which runs up the back of the leg and is constructed in accordance with the teachings of the instant invention. For clarity of description, the boot will be considered to have an external surface 14 and an internal surface 15.

In the embodiment shown, the boot is fabricated of backed vinyl material although it will be understood that unbacked vinyl material or nonvinyl material may also be used. The invention is not limited to the material from which the boot is fabricated.

Referring more specifically to FIG. 2, a seam is shown in a partial state of fabrication. Since, at least at the seam, the joint can be considered as composed of two pieces even though it may be the ends of a continuous piece, the vinyl fabric will be idetntified as follows. The left piece of vinyl will be indicated at 21 and the right piece at 22. Since the embodiment shows a hacked vinyl, the left piece of backing will be indicated at 31 and the right piece at 32. The backing, where used, becomes part of the vinyl material and is not part of the invention herein.

At the joint or seam, the left piece of vinyl with its backing has a left edge 41 and the right piece of vinyl with its backing has a right edge 42. As a first step of fabricating the seam, the external surfaces 14 of the left and right pieces of vinyl 21 and 22 are placed in contact with each other as shown in FIG. 2 with one edge (right edge 42 in this example) extending substantially beyond left edge 41. In other words, one of the edges substantially overhangs the other edge. As a next step, the pieces of fabric or vinyl are stitched together close to the short left edge with the line of stitching being indicated at 45 in FIG. 2. The stitching is performed by the usual sewing operation.

After the seam has been stitched, the material is spread open as shown in FIG. 3 with external surface 14 on the left and right pieces facing outwardly in order to form a smooth, continuous line across the seam. On the internal surface, the right piece of vinyl 22 with its backing is layed over the internal surface of the left piece of vinyl with its backing from the stitching 45 to edge 42 to thereby fold back on itself the left piece of vinyl 21 With its backing from stitching 45 to edge 41. A layer of adhesive 46 is applied to the overlay joint so as to adhere the outer end of the left piece to itself in folded over condition and to adhere the external surface of the end of the right piece the internal surface of the left piece, all as clearly shown p n FIG. 3.

With the foregoing construction, it is readily seen that :he butt joint is completely eliminated and thus the con- :inuity of fabric is maintained in order to substantially mprove the water resistant characteristics of the seam.

Furthermore, the seam is quite smooth and flat as the vinyl material, backed or unbacked, is extremely thin. The joint has been shown at an enlarged scale for the rake of clarity but the material shown in FIG. 3 would lave an actual thickness in the order of about inch." Smoothness of the seam is aided by the fact that none of he external surfaces of the material are exposed inwardly when the seam is completed and thus the exposed internal iurface is continuously of the same material and smooth- While the foregoing seam appears quite simple as to he method of fabrication and the construction, it has been found to eliminate a number of drawbacks of prior conltl'llCtiOHS while eliminating operations required in prior :onstructions.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, zmong those made apparent from the preceding descrip- ;ion, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes nay be made in carrying out the above method and in he construction set forth without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter :ontained in the above description and shown in the ac- :ompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are ntended to cover all of the generic and specific features )f the invention herein described.

What is claimed is:

1. In a booth, a seam for joining two ends of material, ;aid material having an outer surface and an inner surface, :omprising first means for securing said ends together with outer surfaces abutting, said first securing means being spaced from the outer edges-of said ends, the spacing being a greater distance from one end edge than from U16 other end edge, said other end being folded on itself, said one end overlying said other end and theinner surface of the portion of material from which said other and extends, and second means for securing said one end in said overlying position.

2. A boot as claimed in claim 1 wherein said first securing means comprises a line of stitching extending longitudinally of said seam.

3. A booth as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second securing means comprises an adhesive adhesively securing the outer surface of said one overlying end to the inner 4 surface of the portion of material from which said other end extends. I i i 4. A booth as claimed in claim 3 wherein said other end folded on itself is adhesively secured in said folded position by said adhesive.

5. In a boot, a seam construction comprising a first layer of material having inner and outer surfaces and a first end folded on itself with inner surfaces in contact, said fold defining a fold line, a second layer of material having inner and outer surfaces and a second end, said second layer of material being substantially coplanar with said first layer of material, the outer surface of said second end overlying the outer surface of said first end and the inner surface of said first layer of material, stitching passing through said first layer of material at said fold line and said second layer of material, and means for securing said second end in said overlying position.

6. A booth as claimed in claim 5 wherein said securing means comprises adhesive material adhesively securing said second end in said overlying position.

7. A method of forming a seam for a boot from two layers of material having inner and outer surfaces and end edges comprising the steps of laying the outer surfaces of said two layers in contact with one another with one edge extending beyond the other end edge and substantially parallel thereto, securing said layers together along a line substantially parallel to and spaced from said end edges, separating said layers so as to be substantially coplanar, folding said other end edge to place the inner surface thereof in engagement with the inner surface of the layer from which it extends, laying the outer surface of said one end edge over the inner surface of the layer from which said other end edge extends, and securing said one end edge to said inner surface in said overlying position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5,670 11/1873 West et a1 36-57 2,074,004 3/ 1937 Tweedie 36-57 2,160,878 6/1939 LaValle 36--57 OTHER REFERENCES Union Special Bulletin, No. 250, copyright 1965, pp. 3 and 6.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

